You just graduated from college!! What's next? 5/13 - 5/21 THAT'S A WRAP!

[momof3princes]

The breakfast spread looks good! I am interested how the Tusker House brunch goes, we have done Tusker House and Boma, my family preferred Tusker House. My boys dropped not 1 but 2 plates on the floor while at Tusker House the last time we were there!

 

[jabead]

Breakfast looks lovely! I really enjoy the CL for breakfast and love the convenience factor.

Yes, I especially like being able to take my breakfast back to the room to enjoy. It makes for a relaxing start to an otherwise busy day.

I am drooling over all the AKL CL offerings!! After reading your reports, I think AKL would be my dream resort for club level experience!

While I did enjoy staying CL at AKL, I'd have to say that my favorite is still the Wilderness Lodge for CL. But then again, I have a few more that I'd like to try.

The club level offerings looks so good at AKL, better I think than some others I've seen reviews of.

So far I've only had CL experience with three WDW resorts, the Yacht Club and Wilderness Lodge, in addition to AKL. While I would rate AKL as better than the YC, my heart still belongs to the Wilderness Lodge.

Gotta butt into the conversation! I've stayed at AKL club level, and any time they're open, if wine isn't out you can ask for some, and they'll bring you a glass! Beer also.

Thanks for the info!

Thanks. Now I don't have to scratch AKL Club Level off my list ; )

Barb, looks like a great start to the day. Can't wait to see what you all think of Tusker.

Tusker House is coming right up!

OMG I know that feeling after a long drive. You have your room preferences leading up to the trip, but then after that drive you don't care where they put you as long as there is a bed and a shower. Very annoying that you then had MagicBand issues when you got to your room. I think I would have had an emotional breakdown in the hallway.

I had no idea about the free tour of the restaurants. Very cool! Thanks for the info!

I was definitely not feeling the "magic" there for awhile.

I'm so excited for our AKL CL stay now. Thanks for the photos

Glad to be help. Hope your stay there is awesome!

The breakfast spread looks good! I am interested how the Tusker House brunch goes, we have done Tusker House and Boma, my family preferred Tusker House. My boys dropped not 1 but 2 plates on the floor while at Tusker House the last time we were there!

The Tusker review is coming right up, so please stay tuned!

 

[jabead]

He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart. ~ C.S. Lewis



I recently came upon this quote by C.S. Lewis and it made me laugh. Hope it did the same for you. Anyway, if you haven't yet guessed, the above pictured plate of breakfast food (including scrambled eggs and ham) was my first plate from our brunch at Tusker House. I say brunch because our ADR was for 10:45 and breakfast at Tusker House ends at 11:00 and that is when lunch begins. So I purposely made our reservation at this time so that I could have my breakfast and eat lunch too!


But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's rewind and start from the beginning. After checking out of the Animal Kingdom Lodge on the morning of May 14th, we drove to Animal Kingdom and arrived not long after it opened, which that morning was at 9:00.



As you can maybe tell from my face, the heat index on this day was somewhere between OMG and WTH.



So anyway, our first Fast Pass of the morning was for Kilimanjaro Safaris but the kids decided they wanted to first do Expedition Everest, which had a very short stand-by line. Then they met up with me in Africa for our safari ride.



This big guy gives a whole new meaning to "power napping"...





I swear I heard a "tick tock" sound coming from one of those crocodiles...





Oh, and this trio of elephants made a cameo appearance during our safari. I think their names were Big, Bigger, and Biggest...
​

Our safari was over by 10:30 and we were all hungry so checked in early for our reservation.


Tusker House - Part I (Breakfast)


By the time we had our "pretty much pointless" photo taken by the Photopass Photographer outside the restaurant and then waited for our name to be called, it was nearly 11:00. Without even sitting down, we quickly gave our drink orders to our server and then hit the ground running to the buffet. We got there just in time to make our choices from the breakfast food, but I didn't have enough time to take many photos before they started replacing breakfast with lunch. Consequently most of the breakfast photos are actually from my breakfast here last October, but from what I could tell there had been no changes in the offerings.


And so, I present to you the Tusker House breakfast food starting with the Bread & Pastries station. Here there were croissants and assorted bagels...









Toppings included both Vegetable and Plain Cream Cheese, Whipped Butter, and Assorted Jams, Jellies, and Fruit Chutneys...








I believe these were apple turnovers, but I think they had strawberry turnovers too.





Blueberry bread, along with orange bread and lemon poppy seed bread in the background...





Yay for Krispy Kreme Doughnut Holes!






Then there were Chocolate Twists...





Coffee cake, Corn bread, and Mealie Corn Bread...












I also noticed these Gluten-free options...









For fruit, there was Cantaloupe, Pineapple, Honeydew, and Watermelon...





It's Bananas...B-A-N-A-N-A-S!







Cold cereals included Rice Krispies and Fruit Loops...





As well as, Corn Flakes and Raisin Bran...






There were also hot cereals of Oatmeal and Mealie Pap...




Along with the toppings of Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, and Raisins...





Scrambled Eggs...




Ham & Cheese Frittata...





Four potato choices which included Tater Tots...​

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Both Oven Roasted Yukon Gold Potato Wedges...




...and Oven Roasted Red Skin Potatoes.





Also Coconut Sweet Potato Casserole...






- Continued in next post -​

 

[jabead]

There were Sweet Plantains...​

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Beef Bobotie...​

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Biscuits & Sausage Gravy...​

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Breakfast meats of bacon and sausage patties (instead of the usual links)...​

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Spiced Corn Beef Hash with Cornbread Topping...​

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Cheese Blintz with Cherry & Apple Toppings...​

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And of course, lots of Mickey Waffles! ​

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Last, from the Carving Station, Spit-roasted Bone-in Ham served with Sweet & Spicy Honey Mustard...
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I knew exactly what my favorites were since I was just here in October, so it didn't take me long to fill my two plates...



On this plate were ham & mustard, coconut sweet potato casserole, tater tots, bacon, scrambled eggs, sweet plantains, and oven-roasted potato wedges.



And then a Mickey waffle and Krispy Kreme doughnut holes on my other plate...






Oh, and to drink we all had the Jungle Juice (passion fruit, orange, & guava juices), plus coffee too for me. Surprisingly, they brought us large glasses of the juice.



Everything was very good, just like it was last time.


​

Next up: Tusker House - Part II (Lunch)

 

[vettegirl]

Looking forward to the lunch part. TH for breakfast is one of our favs and we can't wait to take Alexander.

 

[jabead]

Tusker House - Part II (Lunch)

Once we had eaten most of our breakfast food, we all returned to the buffet to check out the lunch offerings. This time I was able to take several photos.

NOTE: I have identified these to the best of my ability. If anyone disagrees, don't be afraid to speak up. I welcome the help!



Sliced Turkey & Ham, American & Swiss Cheese, Mayonnaise, Mustard, Strawberry Yogurt, and Apple Sauce




Smoked Salmon Dip




Pita Bread




This looked like the Dabo Bread that they serve at Jiko




Mealie Cornbread




Tabbouleh




Another photo of the Tabbouleh, along with Hummus and Mango Chutney




Spinach Salad, dressings and toppings









South African Quinoa Salad




Tomato & Cucumber Salad with Mint Yogurt Dressing




Chickpea Salad




Watermelon & Feta Salad



Saffron-infused Root Vegetables and Cabbage




Caesar Salad




Toasted Couscous Salad featuring Ocean Spray Craisins




Tandoori Tofu




Chicken Drumsticks




West African Gumbo



Sweet Plantains




Oven-roasted Potatoes




Collard Greens & Tomato Salad??




Sauteed Green Beans




Garlic Mashed Potatoes




Potato & Pea Samosas, Mango Chutney







I think this is Pigeon Peas & Rice?




Pearl Couscous with Sweet Basil




Curried Rice with Golden Raisins




Spit-roasted Chicken




Lamb Stew




Not sure what kind of chicken this is. Anyone know?




Peri-Peri Marinated Salmon with Tomato-Onion Jam




Cape Malay Curry Chicken


- Continued in next post -

​

 

[jabead]

From the Kids Station...



Macaroni & Cheese




Corn Medley




Corn Dog Nuggets



From the Carving Station...


Spit-roasted Beef Top Sirloin




Kenyan Coffee BBQ Pork Loin



And last but not least, from the Dessert Station...



Lemon Bars




Strawberry Mousse




Pecan Chocolate Bars




Carrot Spice Cake




Passion Fruit Tarts




Coconut Macaroons



Sadly, I found that I was feeling pretty full at this point so only tried a few things: Both meats from the carving station, some garlic mashed potatoes, and a couple of the desserts (strawberry mousse and carrot cake).



All of these were pretty good, especially the meats. However, my favorite is still the ham that is served at breakfast.



That leaves only our photos with the characters which are at Tusker House, both during breakfast and lunch.


First the host of this party, Donald Duck...





And his lovely girlfriend, Daisy...






And the very tall Goofy, whose head was dangerously close to being cut off in this photo...






But the kids had the most fun with Mickey, taking a selfie with him...






So Tusker House Breakfast vs. Lunch, who won the Brunch Challenge?

By a unanimous vote, Breakfast was the winner here! All three of us gave the breakfast food a rating of 5, or Very Good. The lunch food ratings averaged a 4, or Good. However, I don't think that we gave lunch a fair shot. Therefore, I fully intend to pay another visit to Tusker House for lunch sometime so that I can try some of their more African-inspired dishes. The only problem is...how am I going to pass up the opportunity to have breakfast here?


​

Next up: Cocktails & Appetizers at Yak & Yeti

 

[twinkybel81]

A little late to the party, but I'm following along!

 

[Haygar2]

I love these! I love to see what others have to say. Can't wait to see more. I am trying to convince my husband to let me book a trip for September 2016. He keeps saying 2017, but I don't think I can wait that long. I figure if I keep mentioning some of his favorite restaurants he might agree. I can't wait to hear your reviews for California Grill and for Le Cellier. I know my trip is still quite a ways away, but I love to start planning. That's part of the fun for me. I am torn between Le Cellier, Yachtsman, and California Grill for our signature meal. We only do one per trip. So far we have done Hollywood Brown Derby and Narcoossee's.

 

[MrsSkellington]

This made me so excited for our TH lunch! I'm not the biggest meat eater and all those rice and couscous dishes look SO good! I'm going to be stuffed!

 

[MagentaMulan]

Tusker House looks really good! I scheduled brunch there for my next trip!

 

[JKSWonder]

He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart. ~ C.S. Lewis​

Ha! Funny!

I recently came upon this quote by C.S. Lewis and it made me laugh. Hope it did the same for you. Anyway, if you haven't yet guessed, the above pictured plate of breakfast food (including scrambled eggs and ham) was my first plate from our brunch at Tusker House. I say brunch because our ADR was for 10:45 and breakfast at Tusker House ends at 11:00 and that is when lunch begins. So I purposely made our reservation at this time so that I could have my breakfast and eat lunch too!

​

Neat trick! I never thought of scheduling it that way before.

 

[momof3princes]

Tusker House looked so good! What a great idea to schedule brunch, then you get to check out both breakfast and lunch options I love all of the African inspired dishes and trying new things

 

[spartankid34]

For your TH Brunch, did you pay breakfast price or lunch?

 

[pagek83]

A little late, but just got caught up!! Congrats to your daughter!

 

[LindseyJo22]

All right, I'm going to see if we can put Tusker House on the to-do list for a future trip. Probably not January, since that's just a weekend, but hopefully we'll be going back next year sometime

Everything looked delicious, and I can't pass up sweet plantains at any time, so a Disney buffet with those sounds amazing!

 

[OrangeKnickers]

We have a 10:45 resi for Tusker House for exactly the same reason- getting to try both breakfast and lunch. We've never been there before, and I was a little nervous about the food. These photos are so helpful so now I now what to expect. It's nice to see the familiar options alongside the more adventurous dishes. Thanks!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Hi Barb! Emily is such a lovely graduate. It's wonderful you got to vacation with all 3 of your kids.

Glad you persistently solved your room/magic band problems at AKL. Not sure who would have thought to assign adults to a bunk bed room. Probably the same reservationist who thought Chase and I would sleep in a king bed room for 8 nights.

AKL club level looks really good. I admire your discipline to resist trying everything! Also didn't know about the culinary tour either but would love to do that someday.

So sorry your meal at Saana was not so great. I stick with the slow cooked meats after I tried the tandoori shrimp once.

Glad Tusker House was a success again. Love those donuts.

Looking forward to hearing about Universal-

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Thank you for the TH Brunch review! The only ADR I could get there was for 10:50 and wasn't sure what to expect, I have to say I think I'm going to eat light on the breakfast side and wait for lunch it all looks so good!

 

[kastoney]

Your buffet pictures are all so great. I tried to channel my inner Barb on our last visit and between all the people and my crappy shots, did it no justice. I feel a hyperlink to your report in my near picture; )

Glad you all enjoyed tusker. Its the one and only character breakfast we truly enjoy. And love the late breakfast reservations so you can get lunch too. Though I agree, breakfast is where it is at!